“Before I came here (to Rio), I thought, ‘are some people crazy to enough to want to compete in the Olympics for four times?’ It was my second Olympics only and it was so tough I didn’t want to do it again.

“But after I competed my second Olympics, I felt that the second time was a lot different than the first time,” she said with fire in her eyes.

Lee said she could not be more proud of herself for achieving something else – uniting people from all walks of life in a divided city and driving more to care about sport.

“I spent a long time looking at the (social media) comments, people did not just tell me to cheer up. “They left me very long messages. Many people said that I have united the people of Hong Kong.

That’s something I have always wanted to do. I have always wanted to use sport to unite the people,” Lee said in Rio.

“I didn’t expect so many people to care about me. I am very surprised.”

She stressed with a smile that it did not mean she was not a tough woman just because she shed tears at the Olympics.

Lee has been praised for her sportsmanship after the crash. Not only did she not blame Australian Anna Meares, she embraced her when she came up against the Australian cyclist again following the crash.

She said she had even planned to meet up with Meares before she left Rio, although it did not work out.

“I hope that we will get to know each other more. We have had a lot of fond memories together. I have known her for a long time. She’s a four-time Olympian and, in fact, her story has an impact on me,” Lee said of the 32-year-old Meares.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: